thedrifter
10-18-08, 08:55 AM
Ceremony on Sunday marks 25th anniversary of Beirut barracks bombing
By Al Becker
GateHouse News Service
Posted Oct 17, 2008 @ 07:14 PM
WESTWOOD —
It has been 25 years since Christine Devlin lost her son Michael, a 21-year-old lance corporal in the Marines, in Beirut.
Devlin, a Westwood High graduate, and the fifth of seven children, was stationed in the Middle East as part of a peacekeeping mission, when a suicide bomber drove a yellow Mercedes truck, filled with 12,000 pounds of explosives, into the U.S. Marines headquarters at the Beirut International Airport on Oct. 23, 1983. The blast leveled the four-story headquarters building, crushing many of the sleeping men inside.
The attack, which killed 220 Marines, 18 U.S. Navy personnel and 3 Army soldiers. It was the deadliest one-day death toll for the US Marine Corps since Iwo Jima in World War II, when 2,500 perished in one day.
A 21-year-old Marine from Quincy, Cpl. Edward Gargano, was also killed in Beirut a few months later. He was among nine men from Massachusetts who were killed in Lebanon and who who will be honored on Sunday at a ceremony organized by Devlin.
This year’s remembrance will take place at the local memorial in Boston in Christopher Columbus Park on Atlantic Avenue, and will be the site for the 25th anniversary Memorial Observance at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Beirut bombing resonated throughout the world, and it hit close to home as a widowed mother was left to deal with the pain of losing her son – a young man with so much promise.
“Michael was really into the arts and music,” Christine Devlin said. “All my kids did that, but Michael had a special knack for it. He loved the arts.”
Devlin finished his first year at UMass-Amherst, but left because federal Social Security benefits afforded him dried up. Having a love for his country, he and his friends decided to join the Marines. Michael had been in the service 13 months at the time of his death.
Thoughts of what he could have been caused his mother much pain initially.
“It still never goes away, it will always be there,” Devlin said. “You try not to forget your kid, because you feel guilty about it.”
The speaker is expected to be Brig. Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. He was born in Boston and is currently assigned as the vice director of operations, Joint Staff, in Washington.
“We are expecting quite a turnout,” she said. “It’s a lovely place, one which a lot of people helped put together.”
Getting the Boston memorial built helped Christine deal with her loss. She also learned to cope through involvement with the American Gold Star Mothers. Gold Star Mothers are women who have lost a son or daughter in the line of duty. In addition to providing emotional support to members, the mothers work for veterans causes and foster a sense of patriotism and respect for members of the armed forces.
“I learned you don’t have to think about it each day to pay respect,” Devlin said. “And when you do, you just say a prayer.”
In 1994 she served as president of the Massachusetts/Rhode Island chapter of the group and recently took on the role again for 2008.
She says it’s a way to give back, to help others and keep alive the memory of her son.
As president she presides over the group’s monthly meetings and works to ensure legislative issues regarding veterans are heard. She has just returned from the group’s annual meeting in Missouri.
“I want to help somebody else who is going through what I went through,” Devlin said. “There is an emotional need and helping people makes us all feel better.”
Ellie
By Al Becker
GateHouse News Service
Posted Oct 17, 2008 @ 07:14 PM
WESTWOOD —
It has been 25 years since Christine Devlin lost her son Michael, a 21-year-old lance corporal in the Marines, in Beirut.
Devlin, a Westwood High graduate, and the fifth of seven children, was stationed in the Middle East as part of a peacekeeping mission, when a suicide bomber drove a yellow Mercedes truck, filled with 12,000 pounds of explosives, into the U.S. Marines headquarters at the Beirut International Airport on Oct. 23, 1983. The blast leveled the four-story headquarters building, crushing many of the sleeping men inside.
The attack, which killed 220 Marines, 18 U.S. Navy personnel and 3 Army soldiers. It was the deadliest one-day death toll for the US Marine Corps since Iwo Jima in World War II, when 2,500 perished in one day.
A 21-year-old Marine from Quincy, Cpl. Edward Gargano, was also killed in Beirut a few months later. He was among nine men from Massachusetts who were killed in Lebanon and who who will be honored on Sunday at a ceremony organized by Devlin.
This year’s remembrance will take place at the local memorial in Boston in Christopher Columbus Park on Atlantic Avenue, and will be the site for the 25th anniversary Memorial Observance at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Beirut bombing resonated throughout the world, and it hit close to home as a widowed mother was left to deal with the pain of losing her son – a young man with so much promise.
“Michael was really into the arts and music,” Christine Devlin said. “All my kids did that, but Michael had a special knack for it. He loved the arts.”
Devlin finished his first year at UMass-Amherst, but left because federal Social Security benefits afforded him dried up. Having a love for his country, he and his friends decided to join the Marines. Michael had been in the service 13 months at the time of his death.
Thoughts of what he could have been caused his mother much pain initially.
“It still never goes away, it will always be there,” Devlin said. “You try not to forget your kid, because you feel guilty about it.”
The speaker is expected to be Brig. Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. He was born in Boston and is currently assigned as the vice director of operations, Joint Staff, in Washington.
“We are expecting quite a turnout,” she said. “It’s a lovely place, one which a lot of people helped put together.”
Getting the Boston memorial built helped Christine deal with her loss. She also learned to cope through involvement with the American Gold Star Mothers. Gold Star Mothers are women who have lost a son or daughter in the line of duty. In addition to providing emotional support to members, the mothers work for veterans causes and foster a sense of patriotism and respect for members of the armed forces.
“I learned you don’t have to think about it each day to pay respect,” Devlin said. “And when you do, you just say a prayer.”
In 1994 she served as president of the Massachusetts/Rhode Island chapter of the group and recently took on the role again for 2008.
She says it’s a way to give back, to help others and keep alive the memory of her son.
As president she presides over the group’s monthly meetings and works to ensure legislative issues regarding veterans are heard. She has just returned from the group’s annual meeting in Missouri.
“I want to help somebody else who is going through what I went through,” Devlin said. “There is an emotional need and helping people makes us all feel better.”
Ellie